SCB Europe Section Board President Election
Make a difference in conservation and give back to your conservation community by nominating yourself or encourage someone else to serve as the SCB Europe President!
If you are a member of SCB, reside in Europe and you are interested to lead the Board and Europe Section, please consider nominating yourself to run for elections.
In the interest to maintain a good geographical balance in the section, and to foster our support to European regions more in need of capacity in conservation science, SCB members from Eastern and Southern Europe are particularly encouraged to apply.
Successful candidate will serve as a president-elect (until 31st December 2020) and a 3-year term (1 January 2021 to 31 December 2023) as the President of Europe Section.
All Board members, including president-elect are volunteers and must be willing to travel to at least one meeting per year somewhere in Europe and engage in regular email and conference call discussions. Cost for attendance to board meetings can be paid by SCB, although self-funded participation is encouraged. Activities on Board require a commitment of 10-15% of someone’s time. Applicants must be members in good standing of the Society for Conservation Biology Europe Section. All applicants are expected to read and accept the conditions of the Europe Section Board Member Agreement prior to application.
President-elect is a position for one year followed by three years as the President of the Section. This is to ensure continuity on the board and time for the new President to grow into the role as the primary leader of the Section.
Deadline for nominations: 31st March 2020
Elections: 7th April to 30th April 2020
Term of office: May 2020 to 31st December 2020 as the President-elect and from 1st January 2021 to 31st December 2023 as the President of the Section
To apply, send an email including required information (a form is provided below) to europe@conbio.org by 31 March 2020. Note that we only accept self-nominations.
Do you have any questions about the president-elect and the application process? Send an email to SCB Europe President Bengt-Gunnar.Jonsson@miun.se.
To get better acquainted with the position of the president-elect / president, read the following message of the current president, Bengt Gunnar Jonsson:
Being President
I have served as President-elect and President of the Europe Section of the Society for Conservation Biology (SCB) since 2015. My term will now end by December 2020. The term “President” may sound prestigious and demanding, but in practice, more represent being a coordinator and having oversight of the activities of the Section. With an active Board composed of dedicated persons, it is not a difficult task. It is enjoyable and provide opportunities to interact with many of the core conservation scientists active in Europe. Further, as Section Presidents also holds positions on the global Board of Governors of SCB, it provide contacts with the worldwide community of conservation scientists from many sub-disciplines. Personally, this has expanded my understanding on global conservation challenges enormously and played a significant role in my personal development as a researcher. It has been a rare opportunity and I congratulate whoever will take over my position.
In practice, the work being President means to plan and lead Board meetings, maintain contacts with Section committees, together with the treasurer provide oversight of the Section budget and spending’s, and as said, serve on the global Board of Governors. One of the main Section activities are the European Congress of Conservation Biology (ECCB), which we arrange every third year. The next ECCB will take place in Prague, August 2021. The planning for this major event is on track with a local organization committee with good experience in holding conferences. Other important activities relate to our annual Summer School in European Conservation Biology and the various awards that we provide to students as well as to more senior scientist. An exciting development is that we are well underway to establish the Section as European legal entity and hence move to a more independent relation to global SCB. We strongly believe that fundraising will be easier with a European account compared to asking sponsor to send their support overseas to USA. A target with this move is also to allow us to establish an SCB office within Europe.
Admittedly, we have had problems of recruiting a new President to the Section. When I became President-elect, we had a system of serving first three years as President-elect, followed by three years as President. In late 2017, we had election for President-elect but failed to get any nominee for the position. The Board had serious discussion and decided to change the system to a 1+3 years term, with the hope that it would be easier to recruit if the time commitment became shorter. It was hence a disappointment when we in the election for 2020 again failed to get any nomination for the position. For that reason, we will now have to open another election for the President position, with the aim to have a President-elect during parts of 2020. This will allow a transition period and a chance for the new President to follow the work of the Board for some time before taking over the leadership of the Section. It is my sincere hope that we will be more successful this time!
Yes, being President represents work, but it is fun, rewarding and a unique opportunity to expand you professional network. The Europe Section plays an important role to promote conservation within Europe, a role that matters and contribute towards the society’s mission to “To advance the science and practice of conserving Earth’s biological diversity”. So please consider this opportunity and run for being the next SCB Europe Section President!
Bengt Gunnar Jonsson
APPLICATION FORM
Applicant Name
Affiliation(s)
Nationality
City, and the country of resident)
Phone Number
Organization/University Name
Email Address
You must also include a short biographical sketch that is no longer than 300 words. The biographical sketch should include relevant experience and qualifications, as well as reasons the applicant is a good candidate for the desired board position.